A mother has walked free from court after she admitted allowing a man to seriously harm her baby by shaking him.

The woman, who is in her 20s but cannot be identified to protect the child, failed to act on warnings about the threat of violence posed by "violent thug" Nigel Newton, who was later branded "evil" by the baby's grandmother.

Newton, now 24, caused brain damage and lifelong injuries to the infant by "vigorously" shaking him.

He denied any wrongdoing but was convicted by a jury of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after a ten-day trial at Hull Crown Court last year.

Nigel Newton

In an earlier incident Newton - mistakenly thinking he was alone with the baby - shut him in a boiler cupboard. David Gordon, prosecuting, said a witness heard Newton "laughing" while the baby cried.

Forced to explain himself, Newton said they were "playing a game of hide and seek", although the baby was "clearly distressed".

The mother, who gave evidence against Newton in his trial, had previously admitted allowing the serious physical harm of a child.

After being shaken, the baby had been found at a property in Withernsea in a "reduced state of consciousness, having a seizure, pale, with breathing difficulties". He was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, where he was found to have bleeding inside his skull and burst blood vessels in his eyes.

A paediatric consultant told the jury in Newton's trial it would not be known for years if the baby had suffered any long-term eye damage, although the signs were positive.

But when the boy's mother appeared at court for sentencing, the most recent report on his condition came from a teacher, who said he was under-achieving, and described in heart-wrenching detail the problems he was experiencing.

Summarising the report, Mr Gordon said he was "not able to travel around objects" in the classroom due to "poor coordination". The teacher also said the child "can't hold a pencil" and had a "short concentration span". The older he got the more obvious it became how far he was falling behind his peers, the court heard.

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In a victim statement, the grandmother said he was her first grandson and the "apple of her eye". She said when she realised what had happened it "felt like my whole world had come crashing down".

It had been "touch and go" whether her grandson would even survive in the immediate aftermath of being shaken, she said, and he had suffered "life changing injuries".

It "affected the whole family", with four of them being treated for depression, she said.

"He was a perfect baby boy with his whole life ahead of him," she said. "I'll wonder for the rest of my life how much potential was robbed from him by an evil individual."

Newton was described by prosecutors as having a "short fuse" and a "propensity" for violence, and committed a string of violent offences with co-defendant Ryan Mawer, 19, of Watkinson Close, Preston, while Newton was on bail for the baby shaking.

The pair will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Sentencing the baby's mother to a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, as she sobbed in the dock, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told her: "You failed, and I underline that word, failed, your infant son. I have no doubt that you are suffering as a result of that, even now.

"But he is suffering more. The consequences for him are likely to be lifelong. You failed to protect your infant son from a violent thug."

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